Généalogie and Heritage

Source: Adam de Bruis in 'The Brus Family in England and Scotland: 1100–1295' by Blakely, Ruth Margaret

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Type	Valeur
Titre	Adam de Bruis in 'The Brus Family in England and Scotland: 1100–1295' by Blakely, Ruth Margaret

Notes


THE BRUS FAMILY IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND 1100-1295 BY RUTH MARGARET BLAKELY pages 5-7 While this study is principally concerned with the progress of the Brus Family after it had settled north of the Channel, consideration must first be given to their continental origins. In common with so many of those who came into England under the aegisof Henry I, the immediate origin of the Bruses lay in western Normandy. Claude Pithois has demonstrated beyond doubt that Robert was a member of the Brus family who were ducal vassals in the Contentin peninsula, where the forest and town of Brix, a few miles south of Cherbourg, are commonly styled 'Bruis' in documents of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, Brix was a ducal forest and much of the surrounding region was ducal demesne land; in 1180 the bailiff of the Contentin returned a total of £200 for the farm of Brix. The original castle at Brix was a ducal one built to defend an important intersection of roads leading towards the coast and Channel ports. Later tradition gave it the name of Adam's castle, and one of the major routes through the town was known as Adam's highway. It is also an Adam de Brus who is credited with establishing both the church of Brix and the nearby priory of La Luthumiere in the early twelfth century. This Adam is therefore the likely originator of the family of Brus, having been installed by the duke in the castle of that name and granted a fief from the surrounding land. He was clearly responsible for the construction of the stone castle, of which some ruins still remain, in place of the earlier wooden structure. A ducal residence was still sited at Brix at the end of the 12th century, when repairs were made to it. Both Richard I and John are known to have spent a night there en route to or from the Channel ports. Untill 1100 the Brus family remains shadowy. Legendary stories of Brus involvement in England and Scotland before then are unproven, and the assertion that a Brus accompanied Wlliam the Conqueror is almist certainly due to confusion with the family of Broase. Only after the arrival of Robert de Brus I in England does any kind of picture begin to emerge. In addition, during the course of the 12th century, the names of several Bruses can be found among the lamentably few remaining records of Lower Normandy,including those of William the forester, Peter, son of William, and Richard, bishop of Coutances. Charter evidence of grants made to the family foundation of La Luthumiere and its mother house of Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte show that the main Brus fief included the nearby churches of Couville, Saint-Martin-le-Greard, Saint-Christophe-du-Foc and possibly Querqueville near Cherbourg. Other family members held land in more distant parts of the region at, for example, Cardonville, Les Veys and Fontenay near theentrance to the Cotentin peninsula, Morsalines on its eastern coast and Benoistville to the west of Bri. Evidence of the continuong involvement of the Anglo-Scottish Bruses in the family lads in Normandy is meagre and unclear, but the surviving transcript of a cartulary entry confirms that they were indeed from the senior line. It records a grant made by Adam, son of Robert de Brus I, within two years of his father's death, in which he confirms the gift of churches in the fief of Brix to the abbey of Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte. The charter was witnessed by his brother, Robert II, and is noted some ten years later as having been confirmed by Peter (son of William) 'on accordance with the wish and command of Adam de Bruis, his overlord and kinsman'. From this Pithois infers that the Bruses of Skelton remained the overlords of Brix, that Robert I had relinquishedthe fief to a younger kinsman (William) and Adam's charter was effected because Peter was a minor at the time of William's death. By the late 12th century, however, even before the loss of Normandy in 1204, all interest in the Normandy fief by the Skelton Bruses appears to have ceased. After the death of Peter, son of William (probably in 1185), the inheritance became vested in a Luce de Brus, granddaughter of 'Adam' and wife of William du Hommet, constable of Normandy, although the claim may have owed more to her husband's adherence to the king of France than to Luce's descent. Luce's grandfather was clearly an Earlier Adam, not the son of Robert de Brus I.

THE BRUS FAMILY IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND 1100-1295 BY RUTH MARGARET BLAKELY pages 5-7

While this study is principally concerned with the progress of the Brus Family after it had settled north of the Channel, consideration must first be given to their continental origins. In common with so many of those who came into England under the aegisof Henry I, the immediate origin of the Bruses lay in western Normandy. Claude Pithois has demonstrated beyond doubt that Robert was a member of the Brus family who were ducal vassals in the Contentin peninsula, where the forest and town of Brix, a few miles south of Cherbourg, are commonly styled 'Bruis' in documents of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, Brix was a ducal forest and much of the surrounding region was ducal demesne land; in 1180 the bailiff of the Contentin returned a total of £200 for the farm of Brix. The original castle at Brix was a ducal one built to defend an important intersection of roads leading towards the coast and Channel ports. Later tradition gave it the name of Adam's castle, and one of the major routes through the town was known as Adam's highway. It is also an Adam de Brus who is credited with establishing both the church of Brix and the nearby priory of La Luthumiere in the early twelfth century. This Adam is therefore the likely originator of the family of Brus, having been installed by the duke in the castle of that name and granted a fief from the surrounding land. He was clearly responsible for the construction of the stone castle, of which some ruins still remain, in place of the earlier wooden structure. A ducal residence was still sited at Brix at the end of the 12th century, when repairs were made to it. Both Richard I and John are known to have spent a night there en route to or from the Channel ports.
Untill 1100 the Brus family remains shadowy. Legendary stories of Brus involvement in England and Scotland before then are unproven, and the assertion that a Brus accompanied Wlliam the Conqueror is almist certainly due to confusion with the family of Broase. Only after the arrival of Robert de Brus I in England does any kind of picture begin to emerge. In addition, during the course of the 12th century, the names of several Bruses can be found among the lamentably few remaining records of Lower Normandy,including those of William the forester, Peter, son of William, and Richard, bishop of Coutances. Charter evidence of grants made to the family foundation of La Luthumiere and its mother house of Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte show that the main Brus fief included the nearby churches of Couville, Saint-Martin-le-Greard, Saint-Christophe-du-Foc and possibly Querqueville near Cherbourg. Other family members held land in more distant parts of the region at, for example, Cardonville, Les Veys and Fontenay near theentrance to the Cotentin peninsula, Morsalines on its eastern coast and Benoistville to the west of Bri.
Evidence of the continuong involvement of the Anglo-Scottish Bruses in the family lads in Normandy is meagre and unclear, but the surviving transcript of a cartulary entry confirms that they were indeed from the senior line. It records a grant made by Adam, son of Robert de Brus I, within two years of his father's death, in which he confirms the gift of churches in the fief of Brix to the abbey of Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte. The charter was witnessed by his brother, Robert II, and is noted some ten years later as having been confirmed by Peter (son of William) 'on accordance with the wish and command of Adam de Bruis, his overlord and kinsman'. From this Pithois infers that the Bruses of Skelton remained the overlords of Brix, that Robert I had relinquishedthe fief to a younger kinsman (William) and Adam's charter was effected because Peter was a minor at the time of William's death. By the late 12th century, however, even before the loss of Normandy in 1204, all interest in the Normandy fief by the Skelton Bruses appears to have ceased. After the death of Peter, son of William (probably in 1185), the inheritance became vested in a Luce de Brus, granddaughter of 'Adam' and wife of William du Hommet, constable of Normandy, although the claim may have owed more to her husband's adherence to the king of France than to Luce's descent. Luce's grandfather was clearly an Earlier Adam, not the son of Robert de Brus I.